Diode pairs are commonly used in power applications such as AC/AC converters. For example, an AC/AC converter may contain a bidirectional switch 1 (as shown in FIG. 1) which contains two diodes 3 with their cathodes 5 and also collectors 7 of two Insulated Gate Bipolar Transistor (IGBT) 9 all connected together, while the anodes 11 of the two diodes 3 connected respectively to the emitters 13 of the two IGBT 9. The two diodes 3 forms a diode pair in the above bidirectional switch 1.
A common approach to implement the diode pair is to use silicon carbide (SiC) diodes which form an array. Silicon carbide allows Schottky type diodes to be made. These diodes have static performances comparable to those manufactured from silicon. Moreover, silicon carbide based Schottky diodes do not suffer from switching losses. However, existing silicon carbide diodes often suffer from other problems including but not limited to large forward leak current and small reverse breakdown voltage, which deteriorate the performance of the silicon carbide diodes.